As your sales increase, there are many financing opportunities available to your business. You may be interested in helping your buyer get financing for your products, insuring your export sales, getting a working capital loan to fill large orders, etc.

The organizations below offer many financing solutions for you and your overseas partners.

Export-Import Bank of the United States

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank's mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets.

Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. companies — large and small — to turn export opportunities into real sales that help to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy.

Ex-Im Bank does not compete with private sector lenders but provides export financing products that fill gaps in trade financing. We assume credit and country risks that the private sector is unable or unwilling to accept. We also help to level the playing field for U.S. exporters by matching the financing that other governments provide to their exporters.

Ex-Im Bank provides working capital guarantees (pre-export financing); export credit insurance; and loan guarantees and direct loans (buyer financing). No transaction is too large or too small. On average, 85% of our transactions directly benefit U.S. small businesses.

With more than 70 years of experience, Ex-Im Bank has supported more than $400 billion of U.S. exports, primarily to developing markets worldwide.

United States Small Business Administration

The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) finances the short-term and cyclical working-capital needs of small businesses and administers business loan programs to help qualified small businesses obtain financing.

Specificallly, the SBA's Export Working Capital Program (EWCP) provides short-term, transaction-specific financing for small business exporters. Exporters may use this program for pre-export financing of labor and materials, financing receivables generated from these sales, and standby letters of credit used as performance bonds or payment guarantees to foreign buyers.

Foreign Agricultural Service

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture offers a number of programs that help U.S. agricultural exporters finance the marketing and distribution of their products abroad, and provide assistance for agricultural trade associations.

United States Trade and Development Agency

The United States Trade and Development Agency's (USTDA) mission is to advance economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. To this end, the agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

Overseas Private Investment Corporation

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has recently undertaken several inititives to increase its support for U.S. small businesses in their efforts to invest in emerging markets overseas.

The new Small and Medium Enterprise Department and OPIC's Small Business Center (SBC) were established specifically to address the needs of small and medium-sized American companies in order to ease their entry into new markets. To the extent that a transaction may qualify under the SBC program or the SME program, the Sponsor may select the program which is most suitable to the Project's needs.

Grants.gov

Grants.gov provides a simple, unified electronic storefront for interactions between grant applicants and the Federal agencies that manage grant funds. There are 26 Federal grant-making agencies and over 900 individual grant programs that award over $400 billion in grants each year. The grant community, including state, local and tribal governments, academia and research institutions, and not-for-profits, need only visit one website, Grants.gov, to access the annual grant funds available across the Federal government. Grants.gov provides:

• A single source for finding grant opportunities.
• A standardized manner of locating and learning more about funding opportunities.
• A single, secure and reliable source for applying for Federal grants online.
• A simplified grant application process with reduction of paperwork.
• A unified interface for all agencies to announce their grant opportunities, and for all grant applicants to find and apply for those opportunities.